Wadi Hilweh Information Center issued its monthly report in which it monitored the Israeli violations in the city of Jerusalem during January 2016 as the occupation authorities continued their assaults against Jerusalemites and their properties and sanctities.

During the first month of the current year, two Martyrs passed away in the city of Jerusalem (a girl from the village of Anata and a child from Abu Dis). The occupation authorities arrested 151 Jerusalemites and 470 settlers broke into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Also, 13 establishments were demolished and 38 people were displaced. The occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of 10 Jerusalemite Martyrs part of the collective punishment imposed on Martyrs’ families.

Two minor Martyr

On the 23rd of January, the 14-year old Ruqaya Abu Eid passed away after being shot by the guard of “Antot” settlement established on the lands of the village of Anata under the pretext of attempting to stab him.

Later that day, the 17-year old Mohammad Nabil Darwish Halabyeh passed away at the entrance of the Abu Dis military camp established on the lands of the village after a locally made explosive device exploded in his hands.

Detained Martyrs’ bodies

Part of the collective punishment imposed on Martyrs’ families, the occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of 10 Jerusalemite Martyrs in the occupation’s refrigerators and delay releasing them to their families despite the presence of a decision by the Israeli intelligence to release them.

The occupation authorities continues their series of arrests against Jerusalem and arrested 151 people in January including 5 women, 3 old men and 73 minors (9 under the age of responsibility “12 years”).

The geographic distribution of detainees was as follows: Silwan (38), Esawyeh )32), Old City of Jerusalem (25), Al-Tur (11), Sur Baher (9), Shu’fat (6), Beit Hanina (5), Shu’fat refugee camp (5), Kufor Aqab (4) and several arrested from the neighborhood of Wad Al-Joz and the fates of Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards.

The occupation authorities also issued an administrative arrest order against a young man from the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber and renewed the administrative arrest of another young man from the village of Esawyeh.

The occupation authorities continue to detain four Jerusalemite children inside internal rehabilitation institutions following orders from Israeli courts and recommendations from the public prosecution and supervised by the social affairs. The children are under 14 years old and are detained in institutions in “Yarka, Akko and Tamra” and are far away from their areas of residency and their families are allowed to visit them only once a week. The children are: 13-year old Ahmad Saleh Manasra, 12-year old Ali Ihab Ali Alqam, 12-year old Ahmad Raed Za’tari and 12-year old Shadi Anwar Farrah.

Demolishing 13 establishments

Occupation authorities continued to demolish Jerusalemites’ houses and displace residents. In January, 13 establishments were demolished by municipality crews and the occupation army demolished the houses of Martyrs Ala’ Abu Jamal and Baha’ Alayan following an order from the Commander of Internal Front. As a result, 38 Jerusalemites including 22 children were displaced from their homes.

Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained that the occupation authorities closed the family home of Martyr Ala’ Abu Jamal with concrete. It is noteworthy that the targeted apartment is owned by Safa’ Abu Jamal (Ala’s sister) and the occupation authorities displaced her family of 5 individuals including three children claiming that it is owned by Ala’ according to intelligence information they had; the apartment fall in a 3-storey building and is on the first floor.

The authorities also demolished the apartment of Martyr Baha’ Alayan. They demolished the inside and outside walls using hand tools and displaced 8 individuals including 2 children; the apartment is 120 square meters and is on the second floor of a 3-storey building.

Occupation municipality’s bulldozers also demolished the house of Kifaya Risheq in the neighborhood of Shu’fat north of Jerusalem in favor of street“21” that connects Israeli settlement with each other. The demolition resulted in the displacement of 24 individuals including 17 children; Kifaya and her three sons and their families lived in the house which was established in 2000.

Dabash family executed the municipality’s order and self-demolished their home which was established 20 years ago.

Also, the municipality’s bulldozers demolished a building and two under-construction houses in Silwan, a house in Beit Hanina, an under construction house in Jabal Al-Mukabber and a part of commercial establishment in the village of Beit Safafa (Mediterranean Restaurant).

Three Jerusalemites were forces to execute the municipality’s decision and self-demolished their establishments after threatening to arrest and impose high fines on them. They demolished an under-construction house in Beit Hanina and two barracks in Silwan and Beit Hanina.

The geographical distribution was as follows: 4 establishments in Jabal Al-Mukabber, 4 in Silwan, two in Beit Hanina and one in each of Beit Safafa, Shu’fat and Sur Baher.

A Jerusalemite child is critically injured

During the month of January, 12-year old Ahmad Tawfiq Abu Hummos was injured by a rubber bullet in his head on the 6th of January that also caused him fractures in the skull and severe bleeding; he was injured while walking in the main street of the village of Esawyeh. The bullet caused him to lose speech and ability to respond to the surrounding effects; he is also unable to move his left limbs; note that the bullet hit the left side of his brain. In regards to heading, the extent of damage was not yet determined. The child is also unable to concentrate with his eyes.

Settlers’ assaults

In January, settler wrote racist slogans on the walls of “Dormition Abbey” church and the walls of Priesthood of the Orthodox Patriarchate institute in Mount Zion in the Old City of Jerusalem. Among the slogans written were: “Send Christians to Hell… You must slay the idolaters…Erase his name and memory…Revenge of Israel’s sons is coming”.

Settlers also created holes in the walls of a room inside the house of Nura Sub Laban in Oqbat Al-Khaldyeh in the Old City of Jerusalem through a neighboring property they seized last month.

During last month, a residential building and a surrounding piece of land in the area of Baydoon in Wadi Hilweh in Silwan south of Al-Aqsa Mosque were “sold” to Elad settlement organization.

The center explained in its monthly report that the building consists of two floors in which the first floor was established before the occupation of Jerusalem while the second floor was built and completed few weeks ago after the “protected tenant” left the apartment on the first floor. The center also explained that the settlers entered the residential building through its main gate easily without any resistance or objection by its owners who were not even in the area. The center pointed out that the settlers had the keys of the building which is owned by Ahmad Abu Ter.

In January, cracks and landslide increased in the houses and streets of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan due to Israeli excavations underneath the neighborhood. The family of Um Mahmoud Siam was forced to evacuate their home due to the significant increase of cracks in its walls.

Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained that the occupation authorities began the excavation works underneath the neighborhood in 2007 and the residents were able to obtain an order from the Israeli courts to stop the excavations underneath their houses for 14 months and then they were able to obtain an order from the judge which allows the Israeli authorities to do their work if they don’t pose any threat to the lives of the residents. The locals of Wadi Hilweh explained that they have been suffering from cracks and collapses in their house and the streets of the neighborhood because of the Israeli excavations underneath their neighborhood especially in the winter season which they call “season of collapses”.

The Israeli authorities (Nature and Parks authority, Elad settlement organization and Gihon Water Company) try to avoid any responsibility when it comes to any drilling occurring underneath the neighborhood.

Al-Aqsa Mosque

The information center explained in its report that the occupation authorities isolated 6 Jerusalemites from Al-Aqsa Mosque for 6 months during January.Occupation authorities also continued to prevent a group of men and women from entering Al-Aqsa at all times and placed their names in the so-called “black lists”. The list includes the names of 50-60 Jerusalemites mostly women; lists distributed at Al-Aqsa Gates are constantly updated.

Black lists were created in the last week of last August following an order from the Israeli Chief of Police in the Old City of Jerusalem, Avi Bayton, against those considered trouble makers who result in severe damages according to his claims.

Part of the collective punishment imposed on Jerusalemites constantly present at Al-Aqsa Mosque, the occupation authorities cut the social security allowance for a group of them without any legal justification; the reason was being at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Those affected by the social security allowance (children, retirement, guaranteed income, health care). They were all subject to arrest from Al-Aqsa and were isolated following orders from the Israeli police and its intelligence. They were classified as “Marabouts Organization” which is prohibited as ordered by the Minister of Defense, Moshe Ya’alon.

Cancelling the residency of four young Jerusalemite men

The occupation authorities also cancelled the residency of four Jerusalemites accused of killing Israelis during the last few months.

Israeli sources said that the Minister of Interior decided to take away the IDs of 23-year old Bilal Abu Ghanem (stabbing and shooting attack in an Israeli bus), 18-year old Mohammad Salah Abu Kaf, 19-year old Walid Firas Al-Atrash and 20-year old Abed Mahmoud Dwayyat (all three accused of throwing stones towards a settler’s vehicle which led to his death; they were accused of attempt murder and causing death).

Suppressing marches and events

The occupation authorities suppressed a student’s sit-in requesting the release of Martyrs’ bodies and assaulted the participants especially the Martyrs’ families.

They also prevented a conference from being held at the Commodore Hotel in Jerusalem and fired a sound grenade towards the participants to prevent them from entering the hotel. The conference was entitled “Our Humanity is stronger than your ban”. The conference was organized by the campaign against the banning of the Islamic Movement and the freedom committee emanating from the follow-up committee.

The occupation authorities prevented a cultural meeting with the Minister of Culture, Dr. Ihab Bseiso, from being held at the Palestinian National Theater “Hakawati” in Jerusalem under the pretext of being sponsored by the Palestinian Authority.

Leader of Israel’s opposition and head of the Zionist Union party, Isaac Herzog met with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome, on Wednesday, presenting him with his recent "separation plan", and urging the US to “promote confidence building steps in the Middle East.”

During the meeting in Rome, Herzog pointed towards a two-state solution, telling the top US diplomat that “a separation policy is the only way to move things in the region.”

PNN reports that, during Wednesday’s meeting, Herzog called on the US to support a regional security conference with Egypt, Jordan, Israel and other states, before the end of the Obama administration, “to refuel a regional front against Islamic terror and promote confidence building steps in the Middle East.”

Herzog told Kerry his plan, pointing out that “it will not happen tomorrow morning.”

“The security situation cannot go on. Israelis are being killed in the streets and the world is presenting bizarre initiatives and boycotts,” Herzog added.

Calling for a separation between Israelis and Palestinians in the Jerusalem area as well, Herzog said that some 28 Palestinian villages in the area “have never been part of Jerusalem.” He said that Israel must find a way to physically separate from these villages, “so that they can not come and stab us.”

In addition, Herzog told Army Radio that, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “stuck in place – they are not able to make progress. I don’t see the ability to apply, right now, a two-state agreement.”

The meeting follows a warning from French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius that France will recognize the Palestinian state if no progress is made on two-state solution, in the coming weeks. Netanyahu blasted the warning, arguing that it gives Palestinians no incentive to compromise, and said hoped that the French would “sober up.”

Last month, Herzog stirred controversy when he proposed to unilaterally disengage from West Bank territories, instead of holding negotiations with the Palestinians. He said that, under the current conditions, a two-state solution with the Palestinians was impossible, a departure from the traditional view of his own Labor party, which has over the years pushed for a Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state.

“I wish to separate from as many Palestinians as possible, as quickly as possible,” Herzog said, at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. Instead, he said, several Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem should be separated from the rest of the city, and the separation wall in the West Bank should be completed to include all settlement blocs.

Israeli forces, Tuesday, abducted at least 34 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, mostly during predawn and night raids, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS). Several Palestinian homes were also demolished by Israeli forces.

WAFA further reports that, meanwhile, in Nablus district, Israeli undercover soldiers, disguised as Palestinians, shot and injured two Palestinians in the village of Qabalan, before detaining them. The two were identified as Yousef Shahrouj and Samer al-Aqra’.

Two other Palestinians were taken by the Israeli army in Nablus, and were identified as Abdul-Latif Aqra’, the brother of the aforementioned Samer al-Aqra’, and Saher Nasasrah.

Meanwhile in Bethlehem area, Israeli troops broke into the village of al-Khader to the south, and detained Belal M. Salah, Mansour N. Salah, and Khaled Kh. Salah.

Another Palestinian local from Bethlehem, Rashad Radaydeh, was detained by Israeli police while he was present inside Jerusalem.

In the meantime, the army kidnapped four Palestinians in Hebron and led them to an unknown destination. They were identified as Karam Maswada, 34, and his brother Shawqi 30, in addition to Ibrahim Atrash, and Qosay Halayqa. Local Khalil al-Sharawneh, 18, was also detained in Hebron’s town of Dura.

In Ramallah and al-Bireh district, forces took three Palestinians, after raiding their homes in the village of Kafr Ne’meh and al-Jalazoun Refugee Camp. The three were identified as Mohammad A. Ishtayyeh, 20, Fares Ishtayyeh, 22, and Mohammad Abu Asab, 29.

Meanwhile in Tulkarm district, Israeli forces stormed the village of Seida, and kidnapped 25-year-old Suhaib al-Ashqar, after raiding and searching his house. Al-Ashqar’s father said that soldiers ransacked about $650 in cash during the raid.

In Jenin, the army detained local Abdullah Abu Qathela, from the village of Ta’ennek at a flying checkpoint that was set up last night, at the village’s entrance.

In Qalqilia, forces took local Mahmoud Melhem, aged 21.

Yesterday, Israeli soldiers abducted 10 Palestinian workers as they attempted to pass through Tarqomia Israeli military checkpoint to the west of Hebron, according to security sources.

The seven workers were identified as Mohammad Halaika, Yousef Eyadeyyeh, Bahaa Z. Ewedat, Fadi M. Ewedat, Mohammad S. Ewedat, Mohammad Mustafa Es’efan, and Mohammad Azazmeh. They were all led to an unknown destination.

Youth injured by settlers

Furthermore, Israeli settlers, on Tuesday, assaulted an injured a Palestinian youth outside Kiryat Arba, an illegal Israeli settlement located on the eastern outskirts of Hebron, according to security sources.

The sources said settlers from Kiryat Arba, under the Israeli army’s protection, assaulted 21-year-old Mohammad Rasmi Haddad, a local from Hebron, causing him moderate injuries. He was transferred to nearby Hebron public hospital for medical treatment.

Violence by illegal Jewish settlers is commonplace. They have repeatedly attacked Palestinian property and worship places. Settler violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.

There has been a noticeable increase in violence by Israeli Jewish settlers against Palestinians and their properties, across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, during the past months.

According to OCHA Humanitarian Bulletin covering the month of November 2015, “Settler violence increased markedly in Hebron city and governorate during October and November 2015, with at least 61 attacks resulting in Palestinian injuries or property damage. Several of these attacks reportedly took place in the presence of Israeli soldiers, who refrained from intervening.”

Peaceful rallies quelled

Israeli police, on Tuesday, also suppressed two peaceful rallies that were organized by Palestinians in Jerusalem, in protest of being denied entry into al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as in solidarity with a female prisoner in Israeli jails.

Israeli policemen reportedly assaulted participants, including women, who rallied outside Bab an-Nazer Gate, one of the gates of Jerusalem’s Old City area, in protest of being denied entry into al-Aqsa Mosque under security pretences. Police also reportedly used force against participants and threatened them with arrest.

Some 60 men and women have been denied entry into the mosque for about five consecutive months by Israeli authorities.

In the meantime, Israeli settlers continued their daily provocative tours inside the mosque’s yards, provoking worshipers, who chanted religious slogans to protest their entry.

Meanwhile, Israeli police suppressed another peaceful rally that was organized by activists outside the headquarters of the central Israeli court at Salaheddine road in Jerusalem, calling for the release of Palestinian female prisoner in Israeli jails Israa Ja’abis, who had a court hearing at the time.

The police claimed that the rally was illegal and unpermitted.

Ja’abis, a 31-years-old female from Jerusalem, was detained on October 10th, 2015, for allegedly “attempting to murder” Israelis, after a gas cylinder detonated inside her car on that day.

The family of Ja’abis said that, at the time of the incident, Ja’abis was moving furniture in her private car to a new apartment. They said that she was also carrying a TV, a fact, which they said, the Israeli police failed to mention.

It should be noted that the explosion took place almost 500 meters away from the checkpoint.

To be noted, the Israeli central court ruled to extend the detention of Ja’abis until the 16th of February 2015.

Ja’abis’ 8-year-old son has been deprived from visiting his mother since the beginning of her detention on October 30th.

Ja’abis suffered from first and three degree burns over 50% of her body, including the back, chest, hands, and face; which was distorted. Eight fingers were also mutilated by the explosion and she currently depends on a wheelchair for mobility.

Detainees tortured prior to detention

PPS, on Tuesday, also revealed testimonies presented by two detainees about being subjected to brutal torture at the hands of Israeli soldiers, prior to their detention.

Al-Masri, 23, who comes from Bethlehem district, informed a PPS attorney who visited him in al-Maskubiya detention and interrogation center that, despite informing soldiers about suffering from a skull fracture prior to his detention, soldiers deliberately slammed him with the military jeep’s door, forced him to sit on the floor of the jeep, and dropped a large heavy box of bullets on his left leg, causing him a simple brain concussion and bruises across his left leg.

Meanwhile, Al-Kar, 20, who comes from the Bethlehem town of Beit Fajjar, said that he was beaten up, thrown to the ground and stripped naked purportedly to undergo a body search.

According to B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, “Israeli law, like international law, allows security forces to use reasonable force in self-defense and for duty-related purposes such as dispersing rioters, arresting suspects resisting arrest, and preventing a detainee from fleeing.”

However, it noted that, The law does not allow beatings, degradation, or ill-treatment of persons who are not rioting, resisting arrest, or fleeing.

“The acts described in testimonies given to B'Tselem and to other human rights organizations deviate greatly from what the law allows, and they constitute flagrant violations of human rights.”

Multiple demolitions

Israeli bulldozers, early Tuesday, demolished two Palestinian houses in the Jerusalem area, citing unlicensed building as a pretext, reported a house demolition watchdog.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center reported that large numbers of Israeli police forces and municipal staff, escorting a bulldozer, stormed Sur Bahir, a neighborhood on the southeastern outskirts of East Jerusalem, and cordoned off Wadi Abul-Humus area before proceeding to demolish a 200-square-meter under construction house.

The center identified the homeowner as Iyad Abu Mahamed. It reported Mahamed as saying that he had started the construction of the four-room house around seven months ago and had planned to move in on Tuesday with his seven-member family.

Mahamed told the center that he had completely finished the house and was supposed to furnish it and move in on Tuesday with his family, including five children between 1 and 12 years of age, but Israeli bulldozers demolished it early morning without any prior notice.

He added that Israeli police broke down the main front door before proceeding to demolish the house.

Mahamed was also reported as saying that Israel doesn’t issue construction permits for Palestinians in Jerusalem as a means to forcefully displace them, prompting them to embark on construction without obtaining construction permits.

In the meantime, Israeli police also demolished another house belonging to Yahya Muhsin in the East Jerusalem Silwan neighborhood of Wadi Qaddum.

Wadi Hilweh Information Center reported on Yahya as saying that he embarked on the construction of his 220-square-meter house seven months ago for his eight-member family, but it was demolished by Israeli bulldozers.

Yahya said that an Israeli Jerusalem district court was supposed to hold a hearing to examine a petition to stop the planned demolition on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m, however, police and municipal staff carried out the demolition.

He stressed that he had been attempting to obtain a construction license, but to no avail.

Israeli authorities has severely curtailed Palestinians’ ability to legally construct new houses or expand existing houses, denying them permits since June 1967.

According to B’Tselem, the Israeli information center for human rights in the occupied territories, from 2004 until 31 Aug. 2015, Israel demolished at least 579 Palestinian residential units in the East Jerusalem area, causing 2,133 people – including at least 1,158 minors – to lose their homes.

To be noted, Israel rarely issues construction permits for Palestinians living in area C, under full Israeli control, prompting them to embark on construction without obtaining construction permits.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator James Rawley argued the demolitions violate international law. “Demolitions that result in forced evictions and displacement run counter to Israel’s obligations under international law and create unnecessary suffering and tension,” he said. “They must stop immediately.”

OCHA argues that the planning policies applied by Israel in Area C and East Jerusalem discriminate against Palestinians, “making it extremely difficult for them to obtain building permits.”

“As a result, many Palestinians build without permits to meet their housing needs and risk having their structures demolished. Palestinians must have the opportunity to participate in a fair and equitable planning system that ensures their needs are met,” it added.

Also on Tuesday, Israeli forces demolished a number of Palestinian residential structures in Khirbet al-Fakheit, one of 19 small localities comprising At-Tuwani and Massafer Yatta villages, south of Hebron, said a local activist.

Ratib al-Jabur, who monitors settlement construction in southern Hebron, said that Israeli forces, escorting bulldozers, stormed Khirbet al-Fakheit locality before proceeding to demolish two rooms and a tent belonging to Samir al-Hamamda.

Al-Jabur added that as a result of the demolition, a ten-member family became homeless.

This was the second demolition carried out by Israeli forces in the At-Tuwani and Massafer Yatta villages on Tuesday.

Earlier, forces demolished four residential structures and seized EU-funded solar panels from the Massafer Yatta’s localities of Janba and al-Halawa, displacing over 20 members of Abu 'Iram family.

Several Palestinian residential structures were also reportedly demolished in Janba and al-Halawa, two out of 19 small localities comprising At-Tuwani and Massafer Yatta villages, south of Hebron.

Ratib al-Jabur said that Israeli forces, escorting bulldozers, stormed Janba and al-Halawa localities before proceeding to demolish four residential structures.

The structures, a home for over 20 members including children, women, and elderly, belonged to members of Abu 'Iram family.

During the demolition raid, forces seized a number of EU-funded solar panels used for generating electricity. They physically assaulted and pepper-sprayed several local Palestinians who protested the demolition, causing them to suffocate.

Israeli military frequently destroys Palestinian farmland and storm houses under the guise of conducting military drills in the southern Hebron hills of Massafer Yatta.

On January 13, hundreds of soldiers occupied the land in front of a military base near Jinba and al-Halawa localities, pitching up tents, digging trenches and bringing military equipment.

Soldiers conducted their drills across local Palestinian farmland cultivated with winter crops and stormed local houses and residential structures, severely restricting local Palestinians’ freedom of movement, damaging fields and chasing away shepherds with their flocks.

At least 1,300 Palestinians currently live in the area. They have been living in this area for decades, many since before the Israeli occupation began in 1967. The area is populated by at least 1,300 Palestinians who face a continuous risk of forcible expulsion.

The Jinba, Mirkez and Halaweh are among 14 Palestinian communities of Masafer Yatta area that has been designated by Israeli authorities (military) as a closed military zone for training since 1980s. The area has been referred to accordingly as Firing Zone 918.

“Subsequently, these communities have been subject to a range of policies and practices that have undermined their physical security, lowered their standard of living, and increased their poverty levels and dependence on humanitarian aid. The communities are at continuous risk of forcible transfer out of the area,” said the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Occupied Palestinian Territories (OCHA).

According to OCHA, families in two other communities in the area – Al Kharoubeh and Khirbet Sarura – have already been forced to leave their homes as a result of settlement activity, including settler violence.

Like many other Palestinian communities located in Area C, which is under full Israeli military and administrative control, Palestinians living in Masafer Yatta are particularly vulnerable and food insecure. They rely on livestock, mostly sheep and goats, as their primary source of income.

Some families are unable to support their livestock since access to grazing areas is restricted due to the threat of settler violence or by the Israeli military, and thus have reduced income with which to meet their own needs, increasing their levels of poverty. All of the communities located in the Firing Zone are dependent upon food assistance from humanitarian organizations.

The Israeli occupation radio quoted well-informed sources as saying that Netanyahu gave instructions after he expressed his disenchantment with the slow pace with which the demolition of family homes of Palestinian activists was carried out.

His remarks were reportedly voiced during a government session on Sunday.

Reports were, meanwhile, released by Israeli news sources on the demolition, by the occupation army, of seven homes belonging to Palestinian anti-occupation activists in the occupied West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem.

The Israeli occupation is intending to knock down a total of 90 Palestinian homes belonging to anti-occupation activists across the occupied Palestinian territories. Observers said Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes makes part of a preplanned policy of collective punishment and ethnic cleansing pursued by the occupation authorities since the late 1960’s.

Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Ahmed Bahar on Tuesday announced details of a new initiative seeking the implementation of national reconciliation and ending the internal division.

During a press conference in Gaza, Bahar called for holding the meeting of the PLO provisional leadership in the near future with the participation of all Palestinian factions and to adopt a national strategy to face all challenges.

The initiative champions the establishment of a national unity government grouping all Palestinian factions, he said. Bahar pointed out that the initiative would also set dates for legislative, presidential, and national council election, and would work toward new elections for the Palestinian National Council (PNC).

He called for supporting the ongoing Jerusalem Intifada and reinforcing the Palestinian steadfastness in occupied Jerusalem and within the Green Line. "Supporting the ongoing Intifada will remain on the PLC’s top priorities till achieving our liberation", he stressed.

The PLC deputy speaker called on the Arab League to meet its promise of lifting Gaza siege, urging the Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing before people and goods.

The Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies (PCPS) said that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) had escalated its arrest campaigns against the Palestinian people over the past month in order to quell the popular intifada (uprising) that erupted four months ago.

The PCPS recorded in its monthly report that 490 Palestinians were arrested in January in various Palestinian territories. The PCPS indicated in a report that among those arrested during the first month of this year, are 140 minors, some were arrested although they were injured, and 13 women and young girls, including the wives and mothers of prisoners, in addition to two MPs of the Legislative Council and a former minister.

The IOA also detained 10 citizens from the Gaza Strip, including six fishermen, while they were fishing, and a 53-year-old citizen while accompanying his sick wife on their way to a Al-Maqased hospital in occupied Jerusalem. Also in January the captive journalist, Mohamed Al-Qeiq of Hebron, continued his open hunger strike which started on 24-11-2015 against being arrested administratively. His health has reached a life-threatening stage.

The Israeli supreme court hinged the consideration of his case on the developments in his health status, which might pose a real danger to his life.

Arrest of MPs Riad Al-Ashqar, media spokesman for the PCPS, explained that the number of kidnapped MPs in Israeli jails has risen to seven MPs in January, after the kidnapping of the MP Mohammed Mahmoud Abu Tir, 65, after breaking into his home in Kafr Aqab, searching it and sabotaging its contents before arresting him and taking him to an unknown destination.

Abu Tir was a deportee from Jerusalem to Ramallah and had spent a total of more than 30 years in Israeli jails at several periods of detention. His last release from prison was in July last year after spending 25 months in detention.

Furthermore, the MP Hatem Rabah Kufaisheh, 55, was arrested after raiding his house in Hebron, only one hour after his car was burnt by unknown assailants. His car was parked in front of his house. The MP was then held in administrative detention for six months. Kufaisheh was a former prisoner who was held in Israeli jails for more than 12 years. He was released from his last arrest on 31.3.2015. He suffers from blood pressure and diabetes.

The former Minister of Local Government, Issa Khairi Jabari, also from Hebron, was arrested and held under administrative detention for 4 months. He was a former prisoner and had spent several years in Israeli jails.

Al-Ashqar pointed out that during the last month 140 minors under the age of eighteen were arrested as well as 13 women and young girls, including a 64 years old woman from the Gaza Strip. She was detained for hours on Beit Hanoun crossing, while she was returning to Gaza from occupied Jerusalem, then she was later released.

The wife of prisoner Ahmed Mughrabi, who is sentenced to life imprisonment, Hanadi Musa Mughrabi, 37, was also arrested, in addition to the arrest of the mother of the Jerusalemite prisoner, Ameer Salloum, while she was waiting in the prison halls to visit her son. Among the women arrested also were Rabia Ourouj, 27, the wife of the prisoner Ismail Ourouj and his mother Feddah, 52.

Administrative decisions Al-Ashqar pointed out that the IOA issued during the month of January 117 administrative detention orders in a continuation of this arbitrary policy. Among these administrative detention orders, 54 were passed against new prisoners, while 63 were renewals for prisoners held already under administrative detention, ranging from three to six months, he added.

Hebron occupied the highest percentage in administrative detention orders, which reached 42, the majority of which were renewal decisions, including the decision orders issued for the MP Hatem Kufaisheh and the former minister Issa Jabari. Al-Ashqar went further to point out that the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) increased in the last month the use of its repressive policy against the prisoners, as well as unexplained transfers, and assaults against the prisoners.

He said that the PCPS monitored 16 raids in prisons by special forces, mostly in the Nafha prison and the Negev prison. The Negev prison sections were stormed several times, and the IPS cut down the entry of clothes to the prisoners to once every 3 months, while in Nafha prison the IPS management isolated three brothers of Abu Ayash family.

It also transferred 13 prisoners from the Eshel prison to other prisons because of their protest at the offensive inspection policy agaisnt their families during visits, and it limited, at the same prison, the number of family members allowed to visit to 10 people per group of visitors instead of 30. The PCPS renewed its calls on the UN agencies to urgently intervene to stop the non-ending arbitrary arrests campaigns carried out by the IOA.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has said that it has surprises for the Israeli occupation army in any coming battle, and trump cards that will force the Israelis to release Palestinian prisoners.

This came in a speech delivered by spokesman for al-Qassam Brigades Abu Obeida during a memorial ceremony held for the seven martyrs, who died a few days ago in a tunnel collapse in Gaza.

"The resistance has become able to build up its strength after every battle, and it has the full right to do this, not because it seeks to fight a war but to get prepared for it," Abu Obeida stated.

"If the Zionist enemy dared to commit any folly against our people and land, the resistance would shake the ground under its feet and take it by surprise," he added.

The spokesman also promised the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails that al-Qassam Brigades would force the Israelis to release them soon. "Our people will celebrate your release soon, God willing, at the wedding of freedom and the great victory," he said.

Political bureau member of Hamas Khalil al-Hayya urged, on Sunday, the Palestinian masses to take part in the current anti-occupation intifada, hailing at the same time the Qassam fighters who died in a tunnel collapse.

Speaking during a ceremony to mourn the seven Hamas fighters who died in a tunnel collapse in blockaded Gaza, senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said “every single Palestinian” should be engaged in the anti-occupation uprising.

“Palestine is our source of unity. Occupied Jerusalem is out shared destination,” he stated.

Al-Hayya also hailed the officer Amjed al-Askari who carried out an anti-occupation shooting in Ramallah on Sunday. "The tunnel in which our seven martyrs died is the same one that was used by al-Qassam resistance brigades to capture the Israeli soldier Oron Shaul in the 2014 summer offensive on Gaza," he said.

“Unlike the Israelis, we’ve never had a soft spot for bloodshed; we are rather keen on our motherland, freedom, independence and holy sites,” he said. He added that the historic funeral processions held for the seven Qassam fighters on Friday amounted to a national referendum on Palestinians’ back up for armed resistance.

Al-Hayya also slammed the UN Chief Ban Ki-moon for his anti-Palestine position and silence over Israeli crimes against the Palestinians. Seven fighters of al-Qassam Brigades died on Tuesday after an anti-occupation tunnel they were reconstructing collapsed.

Palestinian worshipers prevented the settlers from performing Talmudic rituals in the compound, and started shouting Takbeer in rejection of the Israeli presence in the Islamic holy site.

Meanwhile, a group of Palestinian women protested at the entrances to the Mosque in protest at the Israeli continued ban on their access into the holy site. Israeli escalated and daily break-ins into al-Aqsa Mosque raised high tensions and bloody clashes over the past few months in occupied Palestine.

Israel's Cabinet voted Sunday to allow non-Orthodox mixed-gender prayer at the Western Wall of al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem, a move opponents said marked a barefaced show of government support for extremist streams of Judaism.

The Quds Information Center said the square where the prayers are to be held is located between the southern corner of the Western Wall and the Maghareba Gate at Muslim’ the holy al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly pushed the plan despite stiff opposition by ultra-Orthodox and religious nationalist elements in Israel who are key members of his own government.

The $10 million initiative will build a permanent mixed-gender prayer area where the temporary platform is today. It will also create new entrances to the Western Wall area so both Orthodox and non-Orthodox prayer areas will be given equal prominence.

Head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Occupied Jerusalem, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, said the Buraq Wall is part and parcel of the al-Aqsa’s Western Wall and has profound implications for Muslims in all corners of the world.

Sheikh Sabri also said that the square adjacent to the Buraq Wall is an Islamic endowment property and a place where Maghrebians had set up roots before it was totally knocked down by the Israeli occupation. He slammed Israeli attempts to wipe out Occupied Jerusalem’s Islamic identity, saying such sacrilegious schemes are just unacceptable.

Lawyer Khaled Zabarqa dubbed the plan a flagrant violation of Muslims’ rights and endowment property in the Buraq area, saying the Israeli occupation has neither legitimacy nor sovereignty over the site.

Hamas described the attack as a normal response to Israeli field execution crimes against Palestinians, and mourned martyr Amjad al-Sukkari who carried out the shooting.

Hamas’s spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said, in a statement on Sunday, that the operation represents evidence on the presence of patriotic members among the Palestinian Authority’s security forces refusing security coordination with Israel.

Three Israeli soldiers were injured on Sunday after being shot near Beit El checkpoint in the central West Bank while Sukkari was killed at the scene by other soldiers at the barrier.